Beautifully done guys. My guy retired so I’m going to try to give it a go myself this year. Cheers from Cincinnati!

Definitely something for up north because no systems in the south would not have a port to connect equipment so it would be a big process to do that.

This was an excellent how-to video!! :thumbs up: Congrats to the Royals for winning the World Series!! I lived in Overland Park back in my college days when they beat the Cardinals (my team) in the WS 30 years ago. /waves from St. Louis

Perfection! Give this whole crew an Emmy!! Bob Vila would be proud 👏🏼

Exactly the information I needed. Thank you!

Good video... To prevent freeze damage on the above ground pipes when we get an early cold snap, any insulation is helpful. Freeze tolerant ball valves are also a nice upgrade to minimize damage... And make sure the main supply valve doesn't leak back into the system over the winter...

Wow never knew the process ....definitely worth the price to have it don't professionally

I do it myself because the first year I had it done by a local irrigation company they charge me commercial plumbing rates. Thanks for the info. Now I'm doing it myself

This guys ask some great questions.

I use a normal air compressor and it works just fine

ive been studying this for work 7t was helpful

Great video to inspire me with my videos. Well done!

I borrowed a fairly high volume compressor from a friend, yet this video helped me to determine that the ports had to be "beyond" the backflow unit... saved probably $70 - $100 by doing it myself... and not messing something up... thank you guys..

Very informative!! Thank you for making this video!!

I purchased a home with sprinklers 6 years ago this December. I have sprinklers that cover over an acre of my home. I didn’t realize that I needed to winterize them until the next Fall. I came across this video and started using my 30 gallon air compressor. Does it work? Yes. But I can see why this could have issues. The sprinklers that are further away from the blow line struggle to get all the water out and most of the time doesn’t get the mist that the other sprinklers do get. This has been my experience.

Thanks for the short and well explain video , 👍🏼

I use my home compressor and set it at 60 PSI and it takes a few minutes to do. Then I go through the zones a second time. I live in northern New England where the temperatures go well below zero for an extended time and all water must be out of the system.

You need a big air compressor if you are blowing out 10 or more zones with a house on greater than a 3/4 acre of land . 2 HP and a 30 Gallon tank won't get it done very fast. I tried it, but it will work. I live in eastern Washington, there are lots of guys that like to run their big compressors and will do it for under 100 bucks. Big compressors can blow out 12 zones in about 15 minutes.

+tscooter22 - Sorry, we were unable to reply directly to your comment. The goal is to get the bulk of the water out that can freeze and expand enough to damage pipe and components. The water left in the pipe once fogging begins is not enough to do harm. Also, friction resulting from compressed air running thru PVC can generate enough heat to damage components if left running too long.

Great instructional video! Typically we'll loosen both check valves as well, but we only blow out the larger, commercial type irrigation systems. Not sure if residential systems pose less of a threat to those valves in freezing weather..

At the end he takes the connector. When asked if you can do it yourself he gave a runaround answer. It depends how many gallons your air compressor can hold

Thanks for a very good video. I would add one step: when openining the drain at the supply connection, leave the valve or plug opened a bit. Any water leaking past the irrigation system shut-off valve will exit the drain rather exposing exterior water-filled components to freezing temperatures. Insulation will prevent freeze damage only when the temperature is only slightly below freezing and/or below freezing for a relatively short period. If it is cold enough long enough, exposed water-filled components will suffer freeze damage. The only solution is to remove water from all system components exposed to freezing temperatures.

Here in Conroe, Texas we seldom have to worry about a blow-out, as a business not something we service often. Winterizing not usually needed as this video states, but that's just here.

Super great video thanks guys!

Very helpful video...much appreciated

I live in colorado everybody blows out their sprinklers here, thanks for the video

Nice video! Thank you.

My basement is lower than my outside underground pipes. So I have a siphoning mechanism at a point lower in altitude than the rest of the system. Before the first freeze, I turn the valves to start the siphon into a bucket. All the water is then drained out of the pipes. Simple.

Great video guys irrigation tech in the Chicago land area

A regular air compressor will do it.. it's just business what you guys are trying to do.. I own a Landscaping company and also do sprinklers and I think it's not right to be ripping off people.. it's pretty cool that you guys are explaining this though.

You're right, it does take a little bit more time with a smaller compressor but it's $65 I don't have to spend. Plus you know you're not going over 100 psi... That's reassuring.

My air compressor seems to work fine on the first blow out attempt but the on the second attempt 2-3 minutes after first the heads don't pop up all I hear is air being released from theads. Lines are small Poly type tubing 40-50 psi. Tia for your help

I don't know if you still monitor here as it's 7 years old, but, here in CO, everyone and their brother is a landscaper that blows out irrigation systems. It looks like they all use some pickup truck with their compressor and rakes and shovels in a trailer. I just got a Metabo compressor that can push 4SCFM at 90psi. If those other people do it and want to charge me $30/zone, would this compressor work here too? I've NEVER seen that giant trailer compressor at anyones house come fall.

I don't even have a sprinkler system but here I am.

whats the reason behind smelly water thats coming out of the lawn sprinkler? seems like every house is like that, where is the water coming from?

Would like to buy valve and extension shown in video after blow out preventer.

What kind of attatchment do you need to screw onto the Febco backflow preventer? I have an 825y 1" on my system and need a female end to screw onto the backflow preventer

My irrigation contractor got smaller compressor than I do. So I would use mine :).

Thanks for the video! One question, when manually switching through the zones do you stop the air flowing from compressor while switching? Or just keep it going while going through the zones? Thank you again very informative.

I have watched several sprinkler blow out videos and I don't see anything that looks like what I have. I know how to shut off my water but I can't find any way to hook up a compressor.

I don’t have a shutoff above the backflow preventer. Can I blow air through it as long as it is in same direction as water runs ( I’ll close valve between backflow preventer and house though)?

I have one question Im from long Grove Illinois when you guys do the cleaning do you guys put anything to cover the valves or heads we usually put a plastic on the heads so salt and water don't go in side since I do a lot of large homes can that affect anything'? I've done it for 10 years and never had a problem just wondering thanks

Dam im 20 thinking imma 40 hopefully looking as good as these fellers

This is how I realized I'm getting old.

I live in a condo development and have been doing some of the simpler jobs on our irrigation system such as changing heads, solenoids and diaphragms, managing seven control timers, season start-ups, etc. Management has asked me if I could handle blowing out the system this year so I have been doing some research, including watching your video 3 or 4 times so far. We have 5 backflow preventers, 109 zones with 691 heads running off 7 timers. Each zone has a control valve. Questions for you - You never mentioned anything about control valves in the blow-out process. 1. Do you start the compressor first and then open each valve one at a time until the water coming out is fogging, then move on to the next zone? Or open the valve first, then start the compressor? 2. Should the compressor be shut off between zones? 3. Does the timer remain shut off the whole time? Or can you run the system from the control timer at, say, 3 or 4 minutes at each zone, turn on the compressor and run it automatically? Your help will be most appreciated. TIA Ralph

I don’t have any drain for my system in my basement and only have the valve, is their anything I can do to get the water out of the pipe that is leaving the house?

I have an old copper irrigation system. what's the best and easiest way to rise the heads to the current grass level? The current heads don't even seem to be solder on the pipe.

Did I see a faucet ahead of the backflow without a vacuum breaker?

Thanks for this video I do this every year for the company that I work for but I have a question if I plug in the backflow test cock can I use any of them or you suggest just one of them and which one is better ?

80 psi? wow. Did I do something wrong then? Mine came up and sprayed water at about 43ish-45ish PSI until it started fogging.

I live in CO and just had mine done today, but I don't think the guy cycled the sprinkler system to the backyard. I could tell because we had snow, and the front zones left spray in the snow, and the back ones didn't have any signs. Does that matter? Is it just to get water out of the riser, or do the back zones have to cleared out as well? Thanks for any advice!

Using compressed air , will it not introduce oil or other contaminants in whole water system?

Can somebody explain how the backflow preventer is useful when used in homes irrigation system? First of all, in the normal condition, the city water has a 50 psi pressure preventing a backflow. Second of all, if something happens like the main water shuts off in the main line , the water inside the irrigation system cannot come back because first it's in lower level and second the irrigation valves are closed preventing the water motion.... It's an unnecessary device which usually breaks due to cold weather adding a burden on homeowners....

Question: Is there any reason not to blow it out more thoroughly than a fog, or is this a case of good enough because it's not necessary and you might be in a hurry, or is it something more important? Again, thanks for providing a very informative how-to video. :thumbs up:

What is the recommended cfm for air compressor? Would be a good thing to know if blowing out my own system.

Small compressor at one end and a wet vac at the other. Just have to empty the vac before full.

I have access to a big diesel compressor like that but where can I find that adapter?

I followed this except keeping the valve halfway open and it cracked first cold week

What is the valve called that is after the blow out preventer to blow out the system?

Why are you using shark bite connector outside? Will the O ring fail over time?

I discussed with my winterization specialist where to connect the air compressor to blow out the air for winterization. He told me always connected to before the backflow preventer, the left side as shown in the video. He said if connected to after the backflow preventer, as what the video suggested, it won't blow out the water inside the backflow preventer. I am not sure what to follow.

I just read on Hunter's website not to "fully charge" a small home compressor to compensate for the low CFM. What is the harm in doing so?

Hi, would you be able to help with an issue? I just had my winterization and afterwards, it has been draining continuously for more than 12 hours and a lot of water, so what is causing that? As I checked the water supply to the sprinkler has been shut off completely....

What is the model of large compressor used in this video?

How about a master valve in advance of all this and use King drains?

I use a regular compressor

The people I hired said the final necessary step is to fill the lines with a desiccant gas.

I'm going to add a tee for the compressor connection on mine for blow outs, but what parts do I need on a galvanized pipe?

I see this as a good service that a pro can do better than a homeowner as the pro generally has better equipment. I also see that anytime mankind creates something for betterment there always seems to be more money leaving the pocket to maintain such improvement. I say to hell with an irrigation system and it's time we all start living simply again. Not likely but for me very likely.

Sorry guys ik im just popping out of nowhere and acting like ik everything here like everyone else on KZfaq or just social media in general. But I know 80 psi out of an air compressor is NOT the same as 80 psi with water. Although the “pressure per square inch” is the same. Water is incompressible, and air is compressible. It’s essentially hydraulically equivalent to a mechanical spring. Not to mention the viscosity of water is 89 times that of air… I work on and test these things everyday throughout the summer, and every year I see new and crazy damage to irrigation back-flows due to people blowing these things out through the test cocks. If water hammer/pressure spikes are enough to fuck a Backflow up, and a hair is enough to fail a check valve, what do you think blowing compressed air through it will do? Especially over time. Though I suppose its better than the alternative, a freeze break. I just let my system bleed for a while, never had any issues. If you are going to blow it out, id advise to do it on the outlet side of the back-flow with both Shut off valves closed like these guys. That way your not causing any damage to the Backflow. You can always just drain the Back-flow after the fact through the test cocks. (MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE INLET SHUT OFF VALVE CLOSED OR EVEN BETTER, HAVE THE WATER COMPLETELY OFF UPSTREAM OR ELSE YOUR GOING TO SOAK YOURSELF LOL!!) ask me how I know..

what is a Zone? and what does it mean if you have more then one blow out?

you guys should be making this all universal, my system is nothing of what you guys have, my is just the hose faucet, and it connects to two pipes that have a twisty head on top, how the hell do I do any of what you guys just said???

If I forget to winterize my system it ends so bad. All kinds of damage. I’m from eastern Washington

So you don't have to drain the back flow preventer? How about showing how to add the special connector?

Okay, hold on now. At 4:35, why can't you go ahead and turn on the compressor and build up pressure on a closed system? If your air compressor PSI is set at the same level as the normal water utility PSI (somewhere between 50 to 70 PSI in my case) why would this create problems? PSI is PSI, and the piping should be just fine and not burst whether it's fluid or air PSI, right?

There is no reason to use a huge 185cfm or whatever size that is. I've used my 20 gallon 5 cfm @90 psi for years and always gotten all the water out just fine

Thanks for the video... Seems like the previous owner hired a rather idiotic team to install the irrigation... Downstairs draining valve and the air compressor hookup point for outside don't exist.. they were using the only option which is to blow air through the backflow preventer...

3:08

how do you justify $500 to close and $500 to open?

He left out the most important thing. Do not run the pressure too high to your sprinklers! 90 psi max. You will blow out your heads or worse, break stuff. Also If you are a home owner with a moderate or small spinkler system a $100 compressor with 4 scfm is fine. You just have to wait a few times for it to build up pressure again. Overall it was still quicker for me doing it myself than calling the irrigation guy, meeting him, and writing an $80 check.

As a person who has blown out about 20,000 systems over 30 years, I would suggest hire a professional. I live in Alberta Canada and going price for a 6 zone blow out is about $85. If you choose to do it yourself rent a big compressor if your longest line runs more than 200 feet. Lot of houses are crammed together in 40 ft wide lots, and are 3 zones at most. You can use a compressor with a 30 gallon tank. You need the maintain the volume not the pressure. If you have a bigger yard You should use a diesel powered compressor. Now the video is wrong when you blow out, you open the valve manually in the green box, and you can do 4-6 at the time depending how big your compressor, mine is a 210 cfm Sullivan, so it's big. The reason why you open four zones, is to disperse the pressure. A big compressor is usually set at a 110 cfm, and if your switch is set to high it might run at 150psi. Another reason why you don't use the timer is because one of your valve might have a dead solonoid and is not functioning. Now my advice is rather than pi***ing around, hire a contractor. Have you ever phoned a sprinkler contractor in the spring, and you couldn't get one because they are too busy? I'm a sprinkler contractor and I literally get 30 calls a day in the spring, guess who I choose to repair first? It's the people who call me year after year to winterize the systems. I have a vested interested to fix those customers first. The reality is when the weather turns nice in the spring everyone wants their sprinkler fixed.

That houses Street number is 9999

So your basically telling us that everyone needs to hire a service every single year to blow out their sprinkler system because the average air compression won't do it. Yeah, I'm not buying that!

Omg I just bought a house that has a sprinkler system and this is already irritating me.

You didn't explain WHY you stop when the water is just a fog. Would it hurt anything to continue? Are you saying its "close enough?" What's the rest of the story there???

This video appears to be for homeowners yet you are recommending a tow behind compressor... ok.. Small compressors work just fine in my business.

I have never "blown out" my sprinklers. I have had them for over 18 yrs. And I live in utah.

As a professional irrigation contractor i would never recommend using a normal air compressor due to it might not blow out all the water always use a large compressor like these as me i use ingersoll rand compressors, i hate when homeowners tell me that a line is broken cause they didn't blow out most air

Dont use Double checks for your irrigation. They are not approved for high hazard use. Landscape irrigation is high hazard.

If you have a compressor, maybe do it yourself. We’ve had several landscaping companies do the winterizing blowout … and they did it wrong! And, got angry at us for pointing out that they shouldn’t be connecting to the pressure vacuum valve. Idiots.

It’s not a lot of damage 🤣 and never ran in to a backflow under the ground🤣

"Be careful when removing the blowout cap. Sometimes there could be a lot of pressure behind it. So remove it slowly." Guy kneeling in the line of fire also not wearing safety glasses. 🙄

You say first turn on zone because the pressure of the air can burst a pipe? If an average house has around 50psi on the plumbing system and you turn the water off and replace the water pressure with air pressure - not 80psi like you say, but 50 psi - how on God's green earth are you going to blow a pipe? Does not make sense at all.

Wrong

Thumbs down, only showed how to blow the first station. We all have more than just one station.

3 mins in and no demonstration. Thumbs down

You guys really shouldn't post videos showing end users how to do something that contractors who buy from you normally charge those customers to do.

I have a back flow preventer that has two test ports. One is upstream and one is downstream of the back flow preventer. The downstream test port is just upstream of my zone valves. I have heard you can introduce air to the system on the downstream test port but not on the upstream side as air going through it would damage it, BUT I have also read you should not put air through any test port on a back flow preventer. Which is correct? I really don't have anywhere else to introduce air to blow out my sprinkler system.